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CU-Boulder to begin long-planned Ekeley Sciences remodel this summer

University began requesting money from the state for the project in 2003

By Brittany Anas Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
04/11/2013 10:35:22 PM MDT

Updated:
04/11/2013 10:35:58 PM MDT

University of Colorado chemistry graduate assistant Jaclyn Springer, left, helps Lacy Rudd with her lab work in an Ekeley Sciences lab Thursday. A $15 million remodel of the building will begin this summer after being on hold for years in the face of limited state funding.
(
CLIFF GRASSMICK
)

The University of Colorado this summer will finally begin a $15 million renovation of its Ekeley Sciences building, a project that is more than a decade overdue and illustrates the challenge of maintenance projects in a time of limited state funding.

Chancellor Phil DiStefano on Thursday addressed the Boulder Campus Planning Commission, a group of university employees who review construction projects before they are proposed for regent approval. DiStefano said the university needs to be creative with how it pays for deferred maintenance projects because there is a lack of state funding and it's hard to convince donors to fund repairs.

The remodel of Ekeley -- a five-decades-old building that houses chemistry labs -- is needed because it's poorly ventilated, fume hoods are outdated and the building needs to come into compliance with handicap accessibility codes, according to CU documents and officials.

CU began requesting money from the state for the renovation project in 2003. The project was vetoed in 2006 by then-Gov. Bill Owens and in 2008 lost funding amid a state construction freeze triggered by the recession.

So CU is moving forward using campus money. A small portion of the project will be paid for with tuition revenue.

The renovation has been designed, and the university expects the project will take two years to complete, said Wayne Northcutt, a campus planner.

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DiStefano said the university is working to double the number of research partnerships it creates with industry partners, which could bring in revenue to help pay for labs and academic space. The campus also has goals of doubling the amount of fundraising from $50 million a year to $100 million within the next five years.

Within the next couple of weeks, DiStefano also plans to announce a panel of outside community members who will be tasked with helping the university identify new funding sources.

"We can't rely on the state or rely on increasing non-resident or resident tuition," DiStefano said. "We've got to look at alternative funding streams."

Last year, the regents approved a 5 percent tuition increase -- lower than the 8.6 or 6.7 percent increases administrators had brought forward. The lower rate increase translated to about $500,000 to $750,000 less for deferred maintenance than what officials had proposed.

Earlier this week, the CU regents approved an 8.7 percent tuition increase for next year, which provides an extra $20 million in revenue for the Boulder campus. Of that money, about $750,000 will pay for maintenance projects, according to budget documents.

Also this year, the state budget bill proposes $6 million to the Boulder campus so the school can finish building academic labs and classrooms in its biotechnology building. The bill is in a conference committee and still requires the governor's signatures.

DiStefano said that in his conversations with legislators, he reminds them the Boulder campus is the oldest in the state, therefore requiring money to keep up the aging buildings.

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